Latch for end dump mine cars



Dec. 11, 1951 R. c. KEPNER LATCH FOR END DUMP MINE CARS Filed March 113, 1946 INVENTOR C/(e vzzer ATTORNEY Dec. 11, 1951 R. C.-KEPNER 2,578,430 LATCH FOR END DUMP MINE CARS Filed March 13, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET '2 INVENTO ATTO RNEY Patented Dec. 11, 1951 UNITED OFFICE AATQH. FOB EN M ABS Robert (C. 'Kcpner, Bloomsbnrg, .la, assi nor to merican Bar and Eo ndrv Compa w York, Y. en me n ers y Application March 13, 1946,;Serial N 0. 654,140

(or. El -M 6 'Qlaims. 1

This invention relates to mine cars in general and inparticular to latches for the end doors'of such cars.

Inend dump mine cars having :doors of the top hung swinging type considerable trouble is met with in providing a door which :is sufficiently strong as to resist the lading pressures, particu-v larly during impact of one .car upon another. Gonsiderable difficultyalso is met with in providinga. doorwhich willswing freely yet-prevent excessive loss of .lading beneath the lower ed e of the :door. It .is an object, therefore, o the present invention to provide .an improved latch member which strengthens :and prevents bulging of *the lower edgerof atop hung swinging door.

.Alfurther objectof :the invention is. the P vision of a latch for top .hung swinging 1.100.125. which latch will prevent escape .of fine coal h neaththe swinging door.

:A still further objectof the invention is the provision of a latch fortophungswinging doors, which .latch wheninoperative to 10.01; the 1.0.01" will he operativeto direct fine coal-outwardlypve the bumper structure.

These and other objects of the invention will beapparent to persons skilled in the art rom a study .of the following descrip ion :and 8 90.!! panying I drawin s, .in which:

iEig, 1 is anelevationalview of .a- -mine car n w in t improved lat h applied thereto;

.Fig. 21s an end relevational view .of the in}: nrovedcar;

-Fig. 3 is a sectional-view takensubstantially on, line 3-3 of Fig-1.2.;

;-.F.ig..4.is aniend viewsimil r t ig.-I. "but Show: inga modified form .of latch;

*Fig. ,,5.,is a sectional view taken substantially online.5--5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an end view similar to Figs. 2 and .4 butzshowing a sti l further-modific tion;

Eig, 7 is ,a sectional view taken substantially online ='l'l .of Fig. 6, and

' Fig.8 is a sectional view taken substantially on ;line v8..8 10f Fig.

Referring now to the. drawings inv detail',.=itr-will be seen that themine car consists of sill members'Z connected togetherbyend sillsA, all sup: ported ,on wheels W and in turnsupPOrting-side walls .6 and fixed end wall :8. The end sillsfl, which are part of r the underframe, have. connect? ed thereto bumpers J10 protectedz-byxbnmpencaps l2. The space betweenside walls 6 at the end ofrthe caroppositejfixed wall 8 is;..close.d. by swingingadoor D. The door, asclearlyshownzinrthe figures, is made upbf :plate gliastifienedat itstop edge :by a turned over portion i8 and at its hot-,- tomedge by an angle 20 having its legs welded to :the door plate. The side edges of the door plate are reenforced by vertically extending angles v22 locatedvon the outsideof the door and the .door has attached thereto adjacent angles 22 hinge straps 24. These straps encircle abinge rod 26 extending completely across the end of the carand supportedby side wall arms 28 rigidly attached .to and reenforcing theedgeof the s ide walls. Thehinge rod 25,.of course, serves to'tie the side walls of the car together and prevent their spreading. Small spacers 3!] located betweenarms 28 and hingestraps24 prevent side: wise-shifting of the swinging door on the hinge rod. The car floor 32, which is attached t and carried by the underframe, has the door edge deflected upwardly and outwardly as at 34 so that the lading in leaving the car will be raised slightly in the zone of the end sill. This raising ofthe lading is done so that the lading can pass over the latch element L. The latch element in general consists of a flat plate 3E5 so arranged as to have round ends or trunnion portions 38,

mounted for rotation in spaced hinge elements 40 riveted, bolted or otherwise attached to the end sill flanges as indicated at 42. Since the precedingdescription is applicable to all figures, the same reference numerals have been applied toi'indicate corresponding parts.

"In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3inclusive the latch element L, with itsflat plate 36 and trun-.-

nion portions 38, is forged, cast or otherwise formed-to provide an integral whole with the parts so proportioned that the plate part 3% overlaps and extends upwardly a considerable distance above thelower edge of the swinging door plate 16. In order to lockthe door a:housing=or slide guide member 44 is riveted or otherwise attached-to door plate [6 immediately above the upperedge of latch plate 35 when in operative position. The housing or slide guide member is so shaped as-to slidably receive a keeper element or slideplate 46 which is pivotally mounted as at :48 on a lever 50 pivoted as at 52 to a door carried bracket 54. The lever 50 is provided with an operatinghandle portion 56 so arranged as to lift the slide 48 when the end 56 is pressed on-driven down. As clearly shown, when the slide plate 46 is in its lowered oroperative position it overlaps the upper edge of latch plate 38 and will accordinglyprevent outward rotation of this plate about its trunnion38. Outward rotation ofjthe door plate I6 is, of course, preventedby beingoverlappedsby thelatch plate 36, while in-.-

ward rotation of the door plate It when the car is empty is prevented by the slide plate 46 overlapping the latch plate 36. When, however, the slide 46 is moved upwardly the latch L can rotate outwardly and fall to a position such as shown in line and dash of Fig. 3, in which position it serves as a deflector carrying lading over the inner edge at least of the bumper plates l2. This will give a smooth surface for discharge of coal or other lading from the car interior to the bins.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the latch plate 36 is pierced as at 60 in order that the link 62 may pass therethrough for engagement by the hooked end 64 of lever 66 which is pivoted as at 68 on the door plate I6. A wear and guide plate is attached to the door plate immediately above the cutout portion 60 of the latch plate. The link 62 is anchored by links 72 to the car floor 32. In this form the latch, like that of Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, is made by either forging or casting, although it may also be made by welding a plate to a piece of round. In this form it will be seen that inward and outward swinging movement of the door is prevented due to the interengagement of hooked end 64, link 32 and the overlap of latch plate 36 with the lower edge of door plate It. In this form also the latch plate when in a down-folded position will serve to direct lading over the bumper caps l2. Release of the latch is efiected in the same manner as that in Fig. 2, namely, by striking or driving downward the outer end of lever 66.

In the form shown by Figs. 6, 7 and 8 the latch plate 36 is welded as at 8% to upstanding arms 82 and rod 8d. The arms 82 can be either forged or welded onto arm 8 which is trunnioned in the straps 48 previously referred to. One end of the rod 86 extends outwardly beyond the side of the car and is then bent upwardly as at 86, which upwardly directed end portion serves as a handle and can be engaged by ring 88 slidably mounted on a loop member 90 riveted or otherwise attached to an angle 92 fastened on the .car side wall. Outward swinging movement of the door is prevented by the latch plate 38 and arms 82, which in turn are prevented from moving due to engagement of ring 88 with upwardly bent portion 86. The door can readily be unlatched by lifting ring 88 until it will slide out of engagement with end 88, after which the pressure of the lading will cause plate 36 to assume a position releasing the swinging door and defleeting lading over the bumper caps. In this 4 form the latch plate itself or the lock can not prevent inward swinging oi the door, but such inward swinging is prevented due to the overlap of the side edges of the door with straps 28.

It will be seen that in each of the modifications the entire load pressure on the door will be absorbed by a latch plate extending along substantially the entire lower edge of the door, thus the pressure is distributed and not concentrated,

thereby preventing bending or bowing of the door plate. In the form shown in Fig. 4 there may be some chance for stress concentration but attention is called to the fact that since the reaction point between plate 3t and hooked end 64 is a considerable distance above the trunnion portion 38 of the latch plate and the point of load application between door it and latch plate 3% is closely adjacent trunnion 38, the pressure on the hooked end 64 will be relatively small. It will be noted that irrespective of the form of latch the latch plate will effectively close the gap between the swinging door and the car floor and.

prevent leakage of fine lading out of the car, particularly in the zone of the track. Some slight leakage may occur at the straps but this leakage will be outside of the track gauge and will not be bothersome. It will be obvious from the preceding description that various modifications and rearrangements of parts, other than those shown and described, may be made and all such modifications and rearrangements of parts are contemplated as will fall within the scope of the appended claims defining my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A mine car having side walls, a floor, a bumper extending outwardly beyond an end of the floor, an end door pivotally mounted adjacent its upper edge on the side walls and substantially closing the space between said floor and side walls, a latch plate extending substantially from side wall to side wall of the car and pivotally mounted adjacent an end of the floor in position to overlap the lower portion only of said end door, said latch plate being adapted to fold outwardly and downwardly to release the door for opening and to form a floor extension directing lading over the inner edge at least of the bumper, and lock means engaging the upper portion of said latch plate to hold the same in a substantially vertical position overlapping the lower edge of said end door to thereby hold the end door closed and seal the joint between the end door and floor, said lock means being mounted wholly upon said end door and movable therewith.

2. A mine car as characterized in claim 1 in which said lock means comprises an arm pivoted upon the end door and a chain device carried by the car floor and extending through said latch plate to be engaged by said arm.

3. A mine car as characterized in claim 1 in which said latch plate is provided with an extension projecting to one side of the car and said lock means is mounted on the side wall and in position to engage said extension to prevent movement of the latch plate.

4. An end dump mine car having side walls, an end door hinged adjacent the upper edges of the side walls and forming an end wall of the car, a floor extending between the side walls and spaced slightly below the free edge of said end door, plate means hinged to the car adjacent an end of the car and adapted to fold upwardly to overlap the lower portion only of said end door, said plate means extending substantially from side wall to side wall to seal the space between the end door and fioor, and lock means for retaining said plate means in upwardly folded position, said lock means including a lever pivotally mounted upon and carried by said end door. I

5. An end'dump mine car having side walls, an end door hinged adjacent the upper edges of the side walls and forming an end wall of the car, a floor extending between the side walls and spaced slightly below the free edge of said end door, means hinged to the car and overlapping substantially the entire lower edge of said end door to reenforce the same and close the space between the door and floor, and lock means for retaining said means in overlapped relationship to said door, said lock means comprising a lever and slide plate movably mounted on said end door and carried wholly thereby.

6. An end dump mine car having an opening defined in part by the floor and side walls, a pair of members hinged on the car adjacent the upper and lower edges of the opening and adapted to overlap each other to close the opening, and lock means carried by one of said members and engaging the other member to hold the pair in overlapped position closing the opening.

ROBERT C. KEPNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Madeira Jan. 22, 1884 Hart et a1 July 5, 1904 Latimer Oct. 3, 1905 Potter Feb. 18, 1908 Hansen May 18, 1909 Campbell Nov. 29, 1921 Kostenbauder July 28, 1925 Almquist Sept. 10, 1929 

